Ask Dr Gramadeg: Y Genidol – Defnyddio dau air neu fwy gyda’i gilydd / The Genitive- Using two or more nouns together

Beth yw'r Cyflwr Genidol? Wel, bydd dau enw yn y Cyflwr Genidol pan fyddwn ni'n eu rhoi nhw gyda'i gilydd, gan amlaf i ddangos mai perthynas arbennig sydd rhyngddyn nhw, er enghraiff, mai'r ail beth sy'n perchen ar y peth gyntaf. Dylen ni sylwi ar y ffaith mai dwy ffordd wahanol o ddweud hyn yn Saesneg sydd, e.e:

The Genitive is when we use two or more nouns together: usually to show possession or a relationship between them. In English this can be done in two ways, e.g:

Fred’s car                 The car of Fred
Sandra’s book          The book of Sandra    etc.

Yn Gymraeg, dim ond yr ail ffordd ('The .... of ....') sydd ar gael. Er mwyn dweud 'Ffred's car' yn Gymraeg, bydd rhaid i ni wneud y canlynol:
Only the second (the…of…) options are used in Welsh.   To translate  ‘Fred’s car’ into Welsh, change the phrase into the English alternative:

'The car of Fred’         Then get rid of ‘the’ and ‘of’:
car Fred          >          car Ffred

Sandra’s book           The book of Sandra
book Sandra   >          llyfr Sandra

Cofiwch: bydd rhaid i chi ddileu pob 'of' yn yr ymadrodd gwreiddiol. Os bydd mwy nag un 'the' yn yr ymadrodd gwreiddiol, dylech chi ddileu pob un ohonyn nhw hebalw am yr un sydd o flaen gair olaf yr ymadrodd (os bydd un), e.e:

If there is more than one ‘the’ in the phrase, the last one is retained, e.g:

In the corner of the shed   In the corner of the shed
In corner the shed                yng nghornel y sied

By the kitchen door          By the door of the kitchen
By door the kitchen             ar bwys drws y gegin

The manager’s son          The son of the manager
Son the manager               mab y rheolwr

Yn gyfferdinol, dylwch chi wneud y canlynol:

1) Ail-drefnu'r frawddeg Saesneg gan newid 'collnod + s' yn 'of'
('The children's party > The party of the children')

2) Dileu pob 'of'
( > 'The party ... the children')

3) Dileu pob 'the' heblaw am yr un o flaen y gair olaf (Os bydd mwy nag un 'the')
( > '... party ... the children')

4) Rhoi i mewn y geiriau Cymraeg a rhoi trefn ar bethau
(> 'Parti + y plant > Parti'r plant')

So the way to translate this type of phrase is:

1)  Turn it into the ‘of’ phrase in English.

2)  Get rid of every ‘of’.

3)  Get rid of every ’the’, apart from the one before the last word of the phrase, if there is more than one ‘y’.

This works for more complicated phrases like the one below, which contains three nouns: manager, son and name.

The manager’s son’s name                        

1)  The name of the son of the manager

2)  The name the son the manager

3)  Name son the manager       Enw mab y rheolwr

Enghreifftiau eraill / Other examples:

Swansea Summer Festival
The Summer Festival of Swansea
Summer Festival Swansea        Gŵyl Haf Abertawe

Cardiff is the capital of Wales      Caerdydd yw prifddinas Cymru

the price of petrol                        pris petrol

To Cardiff city centre
To the centre of the city of Cardiff
To centre city Cardiff                   i ganol dinas Caerdydd

I live in the Llanelli area
I live in the area of Llanelli
I live in area Llanelli                      Dw i’n byw yn ardal Llanelli

I’m going to see the Eiffel Tower
I’m going to see the Tower of Eiffel   Dw i’n mynd i weld Tŵr Eiffel

What is his dog’s name?
What is the name of his dog?      Beth yw enw ei gi e?